Known in the art is an internal combustion engine which arranges a particulate filter in an engine exhaust passage and which arranges a particulate matter sensor in the engine exhaust passage downstream of the particulate filter so as to detect particulate matter contained in the exhaust gas which slips through the particulate filter without being trapped by the particulate filter (for example, see PTL 1). In this internal combustion engine, this particulate matter detection sensor is used for example to detect if the particulate filter has cracked and thereby a large amount of particulate matter slips through the particulate filter, that is, the particulate filter has become abnormal.